Samir Chanda

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Samir Chanda (1957 – 18 August 2011) was an Indian art director and production designer who worked across Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil cinema. Born in West Bengal, he trained as a painter at the Government College of Art & Craft in Kolkata and studied at the University of Calcutta. He moved to Mumbai and began as an assistant to art director Nitish Roy, working on Mandi (1983) and other films. He later became an independent art director and production designer, with Ram Lakhan (1989) among his early credits. Over the years, Chanda collaborated with many directors, including Shyam Benegal, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rakesh Mehra, Gautam Ghosh and Mani Ratnam, and created the look for films such as Yodha (1992), Dil Se.. (1998), Omkara (2006), Rang De Basanti (2006), Guru (2007) and Raavan (2010). He directed the Bengali film Ek Nadir Galpo (2008), which was India’s entry to the Asian, African and Latin American Competition at the 38th International Film Festival of India in Goa. He won the National Film Award for Best Art Direction four times, including for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2005). For Delhi-6, he recreated Old Delhi in Sambhar, Rajasthan, combining set work with digital backdrops. Wasiq Khan, who would later work on Gangs of Wasseypur and Ram-Leela, began his career as Chanda’s assistant on Iruvar (1997) and Hari-Bhari (2000). Chanda died in Mumbai on 18 August 2011 at the age of 53, reportedly after a drug reaction to a painkiller followed by a heart attack. He was married to Leela Chanda and had a son, Sandeepan Chanda, who also works in film.